Method and apparatus for blasting pipe



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WITNESSES f 0 r//L o fw/2 L. A. @AMERQTA lpgl MFTHOD AND APPARATUS FORBLASTING PIPE Filed Feb. 2, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y n INVENTOR; LuLS/(Mmmm,

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3% L. @Mmmm i IETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BLASTING PIPE Filed Feb. 2, 19524 Sheets-Sheet 4 i N VEN TOR:

Patented Feb. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i LOUIS A.. CAMEROTA,OF BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR WALTER WOOD,

F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA METHOD ANDll-APPABATUS FOR IBLASTING PIPE fApplication tiled February 2, 1932. Serial No. 590,351.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for interiorlycleaninof pipe or like cylindrical objects by means oI a blast ladenwith abrasive material.

The principal object of the invention is to simplify and expedite theoperations involved in cleaning a succession of cast iron pipes as theyare conveyed from one station in a foundry to another, though thepractice of the invention may be applied with equal advantage to thecleaning or surfacing of other cylindrical objects.

Other more specific objects and advantages characterizing my inventionwill become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter of oneexample of the practice of the invention, having reference to theaccompanying drawings, whereof:

Fig. l represents a plan view of a complete sand blasting machineembodying my invention.

Fig. 1l represents an enlarged side elevation of the blow pipe carriageof the same.

Fig. 1H represents an end elevation of the blow pipe carriage with a.portion thereoB shown in cross section.

Fig. lV represents an enlarged side elevation of one end of the dustcollecting enclosure within which the blasting operation is performed,with the doors of such enclosure closed.

Fig. V represents an end elevation of the dust collecting enclosure;and,

Fig. Vl represents a cross section of the same, taken as indicated bythe lines Vlf `i7ll of Fig. lV, with the doors opened.

`With particular reference to Fig. l, wherein the complete sand blastingmachine is illustrated, there is shown a dust collecting enclosure,comprehensively designated at 1, a blow pipe carriage similarlydesignated at 2, and a runway in the form of parallel skids or rails 3upon which pipes 4 are conveyed to the dust collecting enclosurepreparatory to a blasting operation. The blow pipe carriage 2 is, in thepresent example of the invention, equipped with two blow pipes 5 spacedapart in parallel relation and adapted to enter simultaneously a pair ofpipes 4 within the dust collecting enclosure 1, and

there to deliver a blast of air laden with sand, or other abrasivematerial, against the interior surfaces of the pipes.

As shown i'n/Figs. Il and lll, the blow pipe carriage 2 comprises aforked stand 6, mounted on wheels 7, and adjustable supports 8 whichcarry the blow pipes 5 and serve to maintain them in the desiredpositions relative to the longitudinal axes of the pipes to be blasted.Adjacent to one end of the dust collecting enclosure 1, there is a trackfor the carriage 2 consisting of oppositely disposed pairs of rails 9with the upper pair of rails inverted and the carriage wheels 7 engagedbetween the upper and lower rails in such manner as to guide thecarriage in a direction parallel to the axes of the pipes 4. The upperrails 9 are shown supported by brackets 10 attached to posts 11 whichare suitably braced and secured to the underlying foundation. The forkedstand 6 of the blow pipe carriage 2 includes two arms 12 which areslotted or hollowed to accommodate toothed racks 13 on the adjustablesupports 8 for the blow pipes 5. Each rack 13 meshes with a pinion 14,and each pinion 14 is connected by a shaft 15 with a gear 16. The gears16 in turn meshwith gears 17 to which handles 18 are tted. The pinions14C and the gears 16 and 17 are suitably mounted on the arms 12 of theforked stand 6 so that a turning movement of the handles 18 will causethe blow pipe supports 8 to be adjusted radially of the stand 6. Hencein an obvious manner the blow pipes 5 may be positioned toward or awayfrom the longitudinal axes of the pipes 4 to enter the pipes at thedesired distance from their interior surfaces, and thus the machine maybe adjusted to take care of pipes of different diameters.

Each blow pipe 5 is fitted within and surrounded by a tube 19 grippedbetween opposing clamp members 20 of the support 8. At one end of eachblow pipe 5 a suitable fitting 21 is attached, this fitting serving as aconnection to a iiexible hose 22 through which the medium for theblasting or cleaning operation is supplied. At the opposite end of eachblow pipe 5 there is a nozzle 23 directed preferably at such an angle asto cause the blast to be issued u ward and forward and to impinge upon te interior surface of the pipe at a short distance in advance of thenozzle. As a. means for propelling'the blow pipe cai'- riage 2,1there isshown diagrammatically an endless chain 24, a link of which engages apin 25 depending from the blow pipe carriage. The endless chain 24 maybe driven by any suitable means, such as a reversible motor, to propelthe blow pipe carriage 2 toward or away from the corresponding end ofthe dust collecting enclosure 1.

As shown in Fig. IV, the dust collecting enclosure 1 overlies a pit 26into which sand and ,dust resulting from the pipe cleaning operationfalls, and comprises a rectangular box including end walls 27, a roof 28and sliding doors 29, supported on a framework of I-beams 30. Asindicated at 31 and 32, the side walls of the pit 26 extend upward topoints near the bottom edges of the sliding doors 29 so as to form asubstantial enclosure for the pipes 4 during the sand blasting oper-`ation. The parallel skids or rails 3, which serve as a runway for thepipes 4, are mounted on pedestals 33 made up of I-beams.

As the means for rotating the pipes 4, friction rollers 34 are employed,there being two sets of such rollers at each end of the enclosure 1. Therollers 34 are supported in suitablefbearings 35 which are mounted uponchannel beams 36. Of the rollers 34, those two which are locatedcentrally of the dust collecting enclosure near that end thereof atwhich the blow pipes enter, serve as driving rollers; while the othersserve as idle rollers for supporting the pipes 4 during their rotation.To the driving rollers 34 there are connected through flexible couplings37 two driving shafts 28 which at their outer ends are provided withpulleys 39. The pulleys 39 are cross-connected by a belt 40 as shown inFigs. I and V. On one of the driving shafts 38 thereis an additionalpulley 41 which is connected by` a belt 42 to a pulley 43 associatedwith a speed reducer 44. 'Ilie shaft 45 of the speed reducer 44 isadapted to be driven by a motor or other convenient source ofy power.Centrally of the dust collecting enclosure 1 there is a track comprisingrails 46 upon which a pipe conveyor in the form of a car 47 is adaptedto be propelled. To the side sills 48, which are shown as channel beams,of the conveyor car 47, there are hinged dogs or pawls 49 which areadapted to engage'the pipes 4 and to progress them along the rails 3.lAssociated with each dog or pawl 49, there is a stop 50 at theunderside of the conveyor carwhich permits the dogs or pawls to swingdownward from their normal vertical positions in a clockwise direction,but which obstruct a counterclockwise movement. The dogs or pawls 49 arethus adapted to engage the pipes 4 and to-convey them in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. VI to the dust collecting enclosure 1 andonto the rollers 34. The space between the sets of rollers 34 at eachside of the dust collecting enclosure isf bridged by a rail section 51so that the pipes .4 maybe progressed through the enclosure by means ofthe conveyor car 47 without difficulty, with the car 47 travellin in thedirection indicated by the arrow. ith reverse movement of the conveyorcar 47, the hinged dogs or pawls 49 are caused to swing outward uponimpact with the pipes 4, and to pass under such pipes.

For operating the sliding-doors 29 I preferably employ sprocket andchain mechanism as hereinafter described. At spaced intervals along eachdoor 29, as shown in Figs. IV and V, chains 52 are attached to the upperedges of the doors, the chains 52 leading upward to` sprockets 53,located on parallel shafts 54 at the sides of the enclosure 1, andterminating in counterweiglits 55 at the other side of the shafts 54.The shafts 54 are interconnected by a chain 56, the ends of which aresecured to sprockets 57 on the shafts 54. Attached to that shaft 54which is disposed at the entrance side of the dust collecting enclosure1, there is an additional sprocket 58 carrying a hand chain 59.l In anobvious manner, by manipulation of the hand chain 59, the shafts 54 ateach side of the dust collecting enclosure 1 are turned simultaneouslyto raise the doors or to lowerthem. The countcrweights 55 are soproportioned as to substantially balance the weight of the doorsso`,that the interconnecting chain 56 between the shafts 54 is kept tautat all times. The parallel shafts 54 are vconveniently supported bypedestals 60 extending upward from vthe roof 28 of the dust collectingenclosure 1.

` rIhe operation of the apparatus as thus described is asfollows: Whenit is desired to clean interiorly a series of pipes 4 while conveyingthem vfrom one station in a foundry to another, the conveyor car 47 ispropelled by hand to the particular station where the pipes are receivedafter they have been cast. The conveyor car 47 then picks up a set, ofsay three in number, and moves such pipes along the rails 3 to the -sandblasting station. At the sand blasting station two of the pipes 4 arecaused to enter within the dust collecting enclosure, the doors 29 ofwhich have in the meanwhile been opened, and the third pipe is depositedon the rails 3 at the receiving end of the enclosure. 'Thereafter thedoors 29 are closed and the blow pipe carriage 2 is caused to bepropelled along itsrails 9 toward the dustcollecting enclosure 1 withthe nozzles 23 passing through the slots 60 in the wall 27 at the end ofthe enclosure 1 and projecting interiorly within the ends of the pipes 4there located.

The blow pipe carriage 2- is then teinpo' iexible hose 22 leading to theblow pipes 5. With the sand blast issuing from the nozzles 23 againstthe interior surfaces of the pipes 4, the motor for operating thedriving rollers 34, through the speed reducer 44, is started, and thepipes 4 are caused to rotate. Thereafter the blow pipe carriage 2 isfurther propelled so that the nozzles 23 penetrate each pipe throughoutthe length thereof. The sand blast is thus caused to impinge upon theentire area of the interior pipe surfaces so as to clean them of scaleor the like and produce a smooth surface.

After the pipes within the enclosure 1 have been cleaned, the sand blastis turned ofl', the blow pipe carriage 2 is returned to its originalposition, and the motor for driving the rollers 34 is stopped. The doors29 of the enclosure 1 are then opened, and by means of the conveyor car47 the pipes 41 which have been subjected to the cleaning operation areadvanced to a station beyond the dust collecting enclosure 1. Theconveyor car 47 is then returned to pick up a new set of pipes, thereturn of the conveyor car automatically disenoaging the pipes whichhave been operated upon.

It will be apparent from the above descri tion that the machine of myinvention not on y accom lishes efficiently the cleaning of pipes in a sort period of time, but also renders such cleaning operation a part ofthe operations involved in conveying pipes from one station in a foundryto another.

While I have described a particular machine and a particular method ofcleaning pipes, it will be apparent that the machine and method of thisinvention may be applied to the cleanin of other cylindrical objects,and it will be urther apparent that the particular embodiment of myinvent-ion herein illustrated and described represents merely a runwayleading to said friction rollers a conveyor having hinged pawls thereonor progressing the object along said runway to said friction rollers, acarriage movable in the direction of the length of the objectat saidfriction rollers, and a blow pipe on said carriage adapted to roj ectinteriorly of the object, said blow pipe having a nozzle for deliveringa blast against the surface of said object.

3. Apparatus for blasting pipe or like cylindrical objects comprisingfriction rollers for rotating the object to be treated, a dustcollecting enclosure housing said friction rollers, rails leadingthrough saidl enclosure, a conveyor having hinged pawls thereon forprogressing the object along said rails to said friction rollers andtherebeyond, a carria e movable in the direction of the length of teobject at said friction rollers, and a blow pipe on said carriageadapted to project interiorly of the object, said blow pipe having anozzle for delivering a blast against the surface of said object.

4. Apparatus for blasting pipe or like cylindrical objects comprisingmeans for concurrently rotating a plurality of objects to be blastedwith their axes in parallel relation, a carriage movable in a directionparallel to said objects, said carriage having a forked stand, and blowpipes corresponding in number to the objects to be blasted supported onsaid stand, said blow pipes being adapted to project interiorly of saidobjects for delivering blasts against the surfaces thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Florence, NewJersey, this 29th day of January, 1932.

LOUIS A. CAMEROTA.

one example of the physical instrumentalities which may be employed, andthat numerous changes may be made in the form of such instrumentalitieswithout departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in theannexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. Apparatus for blastingpipe or like cylindrical objects comprising friction roll:- ers forrotating the object to be treated, a dust collecting enclosure housingsaid friction rollers, rails leading to said enclosure, means forconveying the object along said rails to said enclosure, a carriagemovable in the direction of the length of the object, and a blow pipe onsaid carriage adapted to project interiorly of the object, said blowpipe having a nozzle for delivering a blast against the surface of saidobject.

2. Apparatus for blasting pipe or like cylindrical objects comprisingfriction rollers for rotating the object to be treated,

